Shockoe Bottom

Shockoe Bottom is an area in Richmond, Virginia, just east of Downtown Richmond, along the James River. It is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, dating back to Colonel William Mayo's 1737 plan of the city. It began developing in the late 18th century after Richmond became the new state capital, and it became the center of Richmond's commerce, with ships arriving at Shockoe Slip. It was also the most famous slave market in the nation after New Orleans at the height of the slave trade. The district was burned to the ground by the retreating Confederates in April 1865 at the end of the American Civil War, but it was quickly rebuilt in the late 1860s and flourished in the 1870s. Its warehouses stored much of the city's tobacco, and the district began to decline during the 1920s as other districts became more popular with the advent of the automobile. After the 1980s, it became a major entertainment and arts district of the city, and the mid-1990s saw a boom in residential growth.